Southeast Missouri woman undergoes surgery after domestic shooting

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- An Ellsinore woman underwent surgery this morning at a Poplar Bluff hospital after she was shot in the stomach during a domestic incident at her home involving her husband and son.

Authorities learned of the incident when Regina Moss' son, Michael Deshazo, called the Carter County Sheriff's Department saying "his mom had been shot," according to a department spokesman.

The incident, the spokesman said, occurred at about midnight at an Ellsinore residence on Highway 21, about two miles south of U.S. 60.

"It was a domestic ... two subjects, John Moss and Michael Deshazo, had both been drinking," the spokesman said. "They were fighting with a gun, a .22(-caliber) rifle. ... A shot was fired and hit (Regina Moss) in the stomach."

The shot, the spokesman said, was from a hollow-point bullet. At this time, she said, authorities do not know who fired the shot.

Regina Moss, wife of John Moss and mother of Deshazo, was taken to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, where she underwent surgery at about 7 a.m., the spokesman said.

"The bullet did extensive damage to her stomach and colon, with fragments (remaining) inside of her," the spokesman said.

Regina Moss, she said, is expected to live.

John Moss and Deshazo were arrested on suspicion of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. They are in the Carter County Jail, awaiting the filing of formal charges.